Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor Sekirei, all characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their specific creators, Masashi Kishimoto and Sakurako Gokurakuin. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.
Author's Notes: The latest chapters of Naruto make me want to rage… Why… WHY!? Obito is the biggest, baddest villain ever… so WHY is Kishimoto reducing the entire confrontation to a giant "THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP!" speech? I mean god damn it, even if the entire war is full of clichés this is just taking it too far. I told myself I was just along for the ride just to see how it ended but I'm not sure I even want to do that anymore…
***** IMPORTANT *****
Two bits of note. First I decided to read on ahead in the Sekirei raws and as a result I have gone back and changed Blanc and Vert's numbers. Since No. 20 is actually the Sekirei Hatae, I have changed Blanc's number to 21 (that was originally Vert's) and Vert's number to 23. Both of those as of this moment are currently unused. Interestingly enough every Sekirei up to 20 has been identified now, although 14, 17 and 20 all have rather uninteresting designs (as in virtually identical), like Sakurako has gotten sick and tired of trying to make original Sekirei.
Secondly the start of this chapter jumps back to before Chapter 32. I wanted to create three easy going, heart-filled fluffy chapters because quite frankly my story needed it with what has happened and what's to come. Plus that's probably the last fluffy fluff you'll see for a while. There will be some light hearted moments but don't count on them being anything more than a brief reprieve. With Higa, Mikogami down and the third stage wrapping up and a solid foundation laid for the Minaka arc, we're going to start speeding towards the end and it's going to get bumpy.
So again keep in mind that the start of this chapter picks up at the end of Chapter 31.
Review Responses: About Akeno, yes she's the same Akeno from Highschool DxD. She won't have any role in my story outside of the Church of Kurama. Quite frankly I already have enough people running around my story without adding more. I want to do a Highschool DxD story simply because I hate the main character and want to replace him. However I'm not sure if I'll ever get around to making it so this is sort of my way of utilizing my favorite DxD female character without actually 'making' a story based on it. Not to say I'll never do a Highschool DxD, just don't have any plans right now. Sorry but there really won't be a merging of Highschool DxD with my story, already got 2 full universes and 1 partial one with Nasuverse. Not adding any more than that beyond cameo characters like Akeno or Minaka's Sekirei.
Chapter 35: A Gathering of Pillars
"Let's begin again from the start; you said your name was Uzumaki Yuuchi?" Naruto asked as he rubbed a hand through his hair. He stared across the room at the supposed Sekirei Pillar. He was dressed in his Hokage attire, better to look as imposing as possible when confronted by this unknown quantity.
Even if she had claimed she was a Pillar, and what Hanabi saw within her corroborated that theory, it didn't mean she wasn't a threat. In fact it made things worse since if she was anything like Miya, she was far more powerful than a regular Sekirei.
That was why he had taken extra precautions.
Naruto didn't know what kind of rigors Yuuchi had endured before she had been placed in stasis, but she had collapsed soon after introducing herself. A nice person would have taken her to a room and placed her in a soft comfy bed to rest and recover.
He had done no such thing. This was the heart of his operations. If Epsilon Point was compromised he was screwed, there was no fallback position. He risked everything and everyone if he let her wander freely. So instead of tucking her in a nice warm bed, he had tossed a futon cover on the ground in the center of the training area, laid her on top of it. Then he had surrounded the entire thing in as many seal barriers as he could while still maintaining the ability for light and sound to pass through.
Hopefully they could determine her threat level before she ran out of oxygen.
Hanabi was there with him as well, leaning on one of the nearby support pillars. Her Byakugan was fully active and analyzing Yuuchi's every movement. If Yuuchi had been able to identify Hanabi as a Hyuga, then she knew about her bloodline so there was little point in keeping it hidden. Like him, she was dressed for business, only hers was assassination. She was in her full ANBU attire, recently modified to include modern protection.
"Yes, Naruto-san, I am Uzumaki Yuuchi, you may call me Yuuchi however," Yuuchi said, completely unperturbed by the situation. If anything she seemed mildly interested in the seals Naruto had inscribed in the ground.
"Why were you in that stasis pod?" Naruto asked. The first thing he needed to know is whether or not the imprisonment had been voluntary.
"I placed myself within that pod. Two others were sealed at the same time as well," Yuuchi replied calmly. Naruto began to ask another question but stopped as Yuuchi continued, "I knew something was wrong when Miya-san did not land with the rest of us, even more so when I learned that her ship had been deliberately sabotaged and she had been put into a deep sleep. I believe we were lied to about why we came to this world, this dimension. The other two agreed with me and we decided to go to sleep until Miya-san awoke."
"Truth," Hanabi said with a frown on her face. Unlike Naruto she hadn't been privy to what Miya had told him about her past. But with what she did know, and what she was now hearing from Yuuchi now, she didn't like where this was going.
Yuuchi turned and smiled at Hanabi, "Ah, the Byakugan's vaunted ability to determine truth from lies. I have always been interested in seeing what it looked—"
"Who are these other two?" Naruto interrupted as he forced the conversation back on track. He wasn't going to let Yuuchi dictate the course of the conversation.
Unperturbed at being interrupted Yuuchi turned back to Naruto and gave him a small smile, "That's for them to say, should you ever meet them."
"Or you could tell me what you know now, you're not exactly in a position where you can afford to be secretive," Naruto pointed out, leaving the threat hanging in the air.
"Yes, these seals are quite powerful, well written too," Yuuchi said, picking up on the threat. She leaned forward and traced her hand along the inner most edge of the first seal, "but very archaic and not designed to handle more current seal breaking techniques." There was a flare of light and suddenly the inner most barrier seal unravelled and disappeared.
Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and Hanabi made as if to do violence. He quickly held a hand out to stop her. Yuuchi had settled back into her prior seiza position, smiling as serenely as before. The first barrier had been destroyed but the other seven still held.
Naruto could tell what she was trying to do: make a point. She was only imprisoned because she let herself be imprisoned. She had the ability to escape whenever she wanted to, effortlessly at that as well. However she had deigned to leave the rest of the seals intact to show that she meant no harm.
"In your time, seal masters were rare, there wasn't a need to build defensive capabilities into the seals themselves, few were able to understand them, fewer still were able to actually use them, and only a select few were actually able to create them," Yuuchi explained calmly as she smoothed her dress, "In my time, the time of the Sekirei, seals were more common than any other form of chakra manipulation. The first lessons taught in schools included Fuinjutsu. Reading and writing were taught for the sole purpose of being able to create and utilize those techniques. The complexity, strength and elegance of these seals are incredible; few even during my time would be able to match this. However they lack protective measures. A child could break them."
That was more than a little disconcerting for Naruto. On one hand she had just complimented his Fuinjutsu abilities and then on the other, backhanded him saying they were childishly easy to break.
He hadn't even been aware of Fuinjutsu breakers. In his time shinobi either waited the seal out or brute forced their way through. There really hadn't been any reason to protect the seals against seal masters.
"Then you could break out whenever you want," Hanabi said as she eyed the other seven barriers, "You're only staying in there for what? To show us that you mean no harm?"
"Correct, I mean neither of you any harm. I am actually quite excited to see a pair of living legends standing before me," Yuuchi said with a small smile on her face. She didn't look particularly excited to Naruto but that didn't really mean anything. It had taken him awhile to figure out the subtle nuances that Akitsu showed when she was happy.
"Legends?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh yes, the public history everyone knows is much different from the truth. However the Uzumaki's that survived the war kept a hidden historical archive. It was there that the truth was kept hidden. I know that the two of you killed Uchiha Madara, I know about the terrible war that was fought then, of the sacrifices that were made for the sake of the future," Yuuchi said, there was an excited glint in her eyes as she looked back and forth between the two.
"Then you know about the Fuinjutsu I created, the one that reversed causality and killed Gaia," Naruto said sadly, "Why don't you hate me for that? I doomed the world to extinction as a result."
Yuuchi held her hand up to her mouth and laughed, a gesture very reminiscent of Miya, "You don't actually believe a simple Fuinjutsu could kill the world do you?" she asked in amusement. Naruto gave her a confused look. Yuuchi spread her arms and smiled, "No, Gaia did not die, she lived. I do not know the details, she did not tell me, but I met her here a thousand years ago. She was the one that helped seal me away after I sealed the other two."
"That doesn't make sense, how can you meet the Gaia of our world here? On a completely different world in a different dimension?" Naruto asked in confusion.
Yuuchi shook her head, "I do not know. I only know what I felt and what I saw. She is Gaia, I could feel it, feel her, and my connection with her. Ramen Prime-."
"WAIT!" Naruto stopped her hurriedly, "Ramen Prime? Short girl, yellow hair, blue eyes-."
"-wearing a floral pattern kimono?" Yuuchi finished for him. "Yes, that is her, I take it you met her as well?"
"Well yes, we bought this house from her," Naruto said as he gestured around.
"Ah, so we're near Edo. Prime-san did mention that she had a place near there."
They were actually in Shinto Teito but before MBI had taken over the city it had been previously known as Tokyo. And before that, before the emperor moved his palace from Kyoto to Tokyo, this place had been known as Edo.
"Oh dear Log, Naruto-kun… she couldn't possibly have…" Hanabi's eyes were wide in disbelief.
"What? What is it?"
"Prime, Ramen Prime. The Prime Chakra Element, YOU wanted to name it the Ramen Element! Why didn't I figure that out sooner? The only person dumb enough to name their child Ramen is you!"
"Hey! It's not dumb! Ramen is an awesome name!" Naruto protested.
"So the father she was referring to was you, you were the spy, the… it all makes sense now," Everything clicked; she should have figured it out sooner. Everything Ramen Prime said about her father could be applied to Naruto. Then there was the name, even her look. She looked like Naruto under his female transformation look, minus the whiskers and pony-tails.
"Hmm, yes I suppose that is possible," Yuuchi said as she nodded her head slowly as if coming to her own conclusion, "If enough of the right type of chakra was released all at once it would be possible for Gaia to infuse it with her consciousness."
"But why?" All three of them asked at the same time.
They blinked and looked each other. Naruto cleared his throat, "Enough, we have gotten off track. We can talk about Ramen later, right now this is about you," Naruto said as he brought the conversation back on track. Although from the way Yuuchi was acting Naruto doubted less and less every second that she was a threat, to them anyways.
Not only did her mannerism and actions not speak of someone with ill intentions, but his gut feeling was telling him she was alright as well and his gut feeling was rarely wrong when it came to the intentions of others.
"What is it you wish to know?" Yuuchi asked calmly.
"You still haven't explained what you hoped to accomplish by entering stasis," Naruto said.
"To stop the Sekirei Plan," Yuuchi replied, "We came here believing it was the hope and salvation of our world. We were wrong. I do not know what it is that we came here to accomplish, but it has nothing to do with saving our world. My hope was to find Miya-san and stop her before she and her feathers were dragged into a needless war." When she had learned the truth she had sent her own feathers into hiding along with their Ashikabi.
Thankfully they had lived long, happy lives filled with plenty of children but many others had not been so fortunate.
"You're a little late for that," Naruto said sourly. He hated to admit it but he was the primary reason there were so few left.
Yuuchi nodded sadly, "I know, I can sense how few of them there are."
"Do you want me to bring Miya-san here?" Hanabi whispered to her husband, keeping her voice low enough so that Yuuchi couldn't hear her. Miya should be told about this, and if what Yuuchi said was true, Miya would be able to vouch for her.
Naruto shook his head, "No, that would leave Kusano alone with Ayesha for far too long. She's already corrupted badly enough as it is. We'll bring Yuuchi to her if I feel she's not a threat," he whispered back, just as quietly. He hoped that Kusano was like Minato, in a position where she was under the influence of Ayesha, but not so far gone that she couldn't be freed. He wasn't going to give up on her after everything he had sacrificed to save her, not yet anyways.
There was so much he wanted to ask Yuuchi, primarily about what happened to the world after he and Hanabi had disappeared, but there wasn't any time. He had already made plans today with Blanc and he was going to see them through. They were as important as this interrogation, more important in some regards.
"One final question," Naruto started as he crossed his arms across his chest. He needed to wake Blanc up soon to start her big day and so far from what he could tell Yuuchi was not a threat. He had no intention of letting her wander about freely, but she had earned a move to a more comfortable location. Blind folded of course. However before that there was one burning question he wanted answered.
"Which Uzumaki are you based off?" Naruto asked softly.
Hanabi looked at him curiously for a brief moment before realization dawned in her eyes. She quickly whipped her head back to Yuuchi, just in time to catch her response.
The smile that creased her face was warm as Yuuchi looked up at Naruto, "None, I am the sole pillar that was born naturally. I had my mother's core implanted in me later. However my mother, she was created based off two Uzumaki's: Uzumaki Mito… and you." Yuuchi's eyes sparkled with amusement as she regarded Naruto, "It's nice to meet you, Ojii-san."
x~X~x
Naruto frowned as he read the piece of paper in his hands for what seemed like the umpteenth time. With a sigh he lounged back in the chair and draped his arms over the side. Kaiga had given him something rather significant back when he had shaken Blanc's hand.
It was a request for a meeting.
And not just any old meeting, a meeting with a politician, a one Councillor Naoki. He didn't know what to make of it. He didn't know anything about this Naoki aside from the basic information that was available to everyone. Naoki had been involved in politics for a little over ten years and his meteoric rise through the ranks had quickly made him the youngest councillor of Japan.
He had been a popular and well received, for a politician anyways. He had gone to ground when Minaka had taken over Japan and deposed of Parliament. Nothing had been heard of him since. Many had feared he was dead.
Still his track record was impressive, his public one anyways. The problem Naruto had was the fact that he knew nothing about the man; he wasn't so naïve as to think that the public records were an accurate reflection of an individual. There was also the issue of why this man in particular was reaching out for him and not someone else.
It was true that Naruto hadn't really started to develop any plan of dealing with the power vacuum after Minaka's death. Oh he had ideas of what he wanted to do, but nothing concrete, no path to take, no plans to follow. He knew he'd have to throw his weight behind 'some' politician or another, but he had wanted it to be on his terms. He wanted to dictate who it was he sided with.
This meeting had all the ear marks of it being the other way around.
"You look pensive Naruto-kun," Hanabi said with concern in her voice as she entered the room. It wasn't normal for her husband to have such a worried look on his face. She quickly made her way across the room to him.
Naruto let out a soft grunt and held the slip paper up for Hanabi to take a look at. Hanabi took the paper from him and quickly scanned it. He could see her eyebrows slowly disappear into her hairline as her mind interpreted what was on the slip of paper..
"This is…"
"Either the start of the end of Minaka or a serious pain in the ass," Naruto finished for her.
"We should meet with him," Hanabi said as she handed the slip of paper back to her husband.
"You really think so? And what do you mean by 'we?'" Naruto asked curiously.
"Of course we, you are a good leader, but you're not a good politician. I was raised and taught how to deal with these types of situations. WE will go and speak with this Naoki-san. No matter how much of a headache this meeting may turn out to be, we can't afford to ignore this," Hanabi explained as she sat in his lap. She shifted around a bit and made herself comfortable.
Naruto sighed and closed his eyes as he rubbed his forehead, "Alright, we'll meet him, but it will be when I'm ready, and I'm not going to be ready this week," he said.
There were several suggested meeting dates, all of them were this week. He was busy this week with things more important, at least to him personally, than this.
"Of course, he approached us with a location; it's only fair if we dictate the time. One thing you can never allow is for the other side to take the lead," Hanabi agreed. Once one side took the lead over the other they normally kept trying to stay 'in' the lead and it progressively became harder and harder to exert any influence and control over the situation.
That's why there had to be some give and take in this situation, right from the start. Besides accepting all of the terms would make them seem too eager and that was possibly even worse than giving up the lead.
"When do you suggest?" Naruto asked. Kaiga was the one that given him the information, it would be easy enough for him to send a message back using the same method. He'd have a clone slip the information into Kaiga's pocket without the man knowing. He had done the same several times in the past so Kaiga would know it was him.
Hanabi tilted her head to the side and a thoughtful expression crossed her face, "The message didn't have any sense of urgency to it so they're not in a major bind right this moment so I say let them wait a little. Twelve days should be enough," Hanabi said.
"Alright, I'll send my contact a message to pass along." That would also give him enough time to wrap things up over here with Yuuchi and his Sekirei.
"Speaking of contact, have you heard anything interesting from your clone at MBI?" Hanabi asked curiously.
A scowl crossed Naruto's face at the mention of his clone Kakashi. He had forgotten about the message he had been sent and he had hoped to keep it that way.
"I take it you have and it's not good," Hanabi said with a worried look in her eyes as she noticed Naruto's scowl.
"Minaka has Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan,"
Hanabi blinked a couple times and shook her head, "Wait, I think I misheard you. Did you just say Minaka had…"
Naruto simply nodded. He did not want to have to repeat himself and speak those distasteful words again.
"You HAVE taken steps to deal with that right?" Hanabi asked. She doubted this was something Naruto would ignore but she had to make sure.
"Of course! Those eyes must be destroyed, I was so distraught by your injuries it never occurred to me to dispose of Sasuke's body at the time. I sent Kakashi a message to create an opening for me to slip a clone in. The clone will get in, destroy the eyes, and then dispel himself. All Kakashi needs to do is get him inside without alerting security and to figure out exactly 'where' the eyes are being held. Kakashi said he'd have something for me within the week."
"Good," Hanabi said approvingly and snuggled against his chest.
"How's Yuuchi holding up?" Naruto asked her.
Yuuchi had been placed in one of the guest rooms on the second floor after their initial questioning. The walls and door had been sealed up as best Naruto could manage but he knew that she could break out if she truly wanted to. As much as he didn't want to admit he didn't have the power to keep her here. He couldn't just let her roam free however and if she was being even remotely honest he didn't want to let her go.
Hanabi had been in charge of taking care of her these past few days.
"Quite well actually. She seems very surprised at the level of technology that the people here have. Not because the technology itself is surprising, she said it was rather inferior to what she was used to seeing, but the rate at which they managed to reach this level fascinated her. It was definitely an abnormally fast increase in technology, possibly due to the arrival of the Sekirei in the past. She's been reading up cultures, customs, political structures, history and other topics to help fit in," Hanabi said as she remembered all the books Yuuchi had asked to borrow from the library. Hanabi gave her husband a sidelong glance and grinned at him, "I'm not buying her relation to you, I'm not seeing it there."
"Why not?"
"Well first of all she likes to read, you hate books," Hanabi pointed out as she held up a single finger.
"Not my fault there's not enough pictures in them, they should be made entertaining as well as informative," Naruto complained. Why couldn't they be more like the mangas that Blanc read? Those were interesting.
Hanabi chuckled and brought a second finger up to join the first, "Secondly she's far too adorable. She's nothing like you or your 'other' transformation,"
"Hey! I'm adorable," Naruto protested.
She gave Naruto a hard stare, "I didn't fall for you because of your looks."
"Ouch, that hurts Hanabi," Naruto said as he held his heart in mock pain.
"You'll get over it," Hanabi said heartlessly. She laughed at the crestfallen look on his face and patted his hand gently, "And lastly, her mannerism is far too refined. If she IS your grandchild, she takes far more after Mito-san than you."
"Well she does have my skill in Fuinjutsu," Naruto said with a pout, pointing out probably the only try similarity between the two.
Hanabi laughed and kissed his pouting face, "I know, and that's probably the single biggest reason why I believe she's telling the truth. Her ability is uncanny, and she IS an Uzumaki, of that there is no doubt."
"Keep an eye on her while I handle things for Akitsu's wedding, won't you?"
"Of course," Hanabi said dryly, did he honestly think she'd leave someone like that alone for an extended period of time?
"Thanks, if she hasn't shown any signs of aggression by Sunday I plan on taking her to see Miya," Naruto said. He couldn't keep her here forever, not while her identity was still in doubt. Once he finished wrapping things up with Akitsu he would have time to deal with her.
Some may consider his priorities backwards in this instance but he didn't feel that way. Yuuchi had been thoroughly questioned and was under almost constant surveillance. Bringing her to see Miya could wait a few more days; she had enough on her plate dealing with Ayesha. Naruto didn't want to drop another potentially dangerous Pillar on her lap without doing everything he could to mitigate it first.
"Well, I should get this over with," Naruto said as he gently nudged Hanabi, indicating he wanted to get up.
With a pout Hanabi reluctantly got out of Naruto's lap, "What do you need to get over with?"
Naruto grimaced as he stood, brushing a hand through his hair, "I need to meet with one of Akitsu's Priestesses so that she can preside over the ceremony I wish to hold for Akitsu," he said with some distaste.
Akitsu had said she was better than the rest, but considering 'the rest' wanted to rip his clothes off and rape him on the streets just about 'anything' would qualify as 'better.'
"Do you want me to come along with you?" Hanabi asked in concern, she knew how bad some of those fanatics could get.
She had hospitalized a few of them for being 'too' aggressive.
"No, I need to do this alone."
Hanabi didn't like that, letting her husband go off and be all alone with one of those fanatics. It's not that she felt that he would cheat on her, but he would definitely let his eyes wander. "I think I'm going to insist, I really should be there to prevent… complications."
"You need to watch Yuuchi. Besides I think you'd just add to the complications, you're predisposed to hate them. You'd threaten her the moment she so much as looked at me wrong, which we both know is guaranteed to happen. That won't start us off on the right foot," Naruto said with a slow shake of his head. He knew how Hanabi would react and he was almost certain that, despite Akitsu's assurances, the Priestess would do 'something.' So long as that 'something' didn't involve trying to tear off his clothes and jump his bone he'd be able to deal with it, "No I 'will' do this alone, you stay here and keep watch on Yuuchi," he said, and then with a wave he flickered and disappeared.
"Damn him!" Hanabi shouted as she stomped her foot on the floor. She had no clue where Naruto had gone so she couldn't follow him.
She debated for a few moments of finding Akitsu and demanding to know which Priestess Naruto had went to see, and where she was. Then with a sigh her shoulders slumped forward and relented.
Naruto could handle himself if worse came to worst. She loved him and trusted him. She knew he wouldn't do anything behind her back, at least nothing that would be considered a betrayal. She wasn't going to become one of those jealous wives that controlled her husbands every movement.
Just the potentially dangerous and insane ones.
x~X~x
"Ayesha-san is with her," Hanabi commented a few moments after they appeared in Naruto's room at Izumo Inn. Her Byakugan was active, and would remain active for the confrontation to come.
"And Kusano?" Naruto asked as he moved to the window and glanced outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of the youngest Sekirei. At this time of day Kusano was either taking a nap or outside playing.
Hanabi turned her focus down the hallway to Kusano's room. She could see the small Sekirei curled up in her futon, "Asleep in her room holding a stuffed fox," Hanabi replied.
"Good, let's go," Naruto said and quickly made his way to the door. Yuuchi followed after him and Hanabi took up the rear.
It almost felt like they were escorting a prisoner, and in a sense they were. Naruto and Hanabi trusted Miya. Yuuchi's life literally depended on how Miya reacted to her presence. The two of them had not detected a hint of anything threatening about her, but they had felt the same way about Ayesha and look at how that had turned out.
That was also the reason Naruto was glad Kusano was asleep. It was time to finally deal with Ayesha once and for all. Despite understanding the seal that had held Yuuchi for a millennium it had been moderately difficult to reproduce, even with numerous clones going over it for an entire week. It wasn't that any individual part of the seal had been particularly complex, at least to him. It was the way each part of had seamlessly melded into the greater whole that had been difficult to replicate. He could easily have created the individuals seals but positioning and connecting the various seals together had taken the bulk of the time.
More than a few clones had met horrible and violent ends during the initial test phases due to the seals not being connected properly.
Still, despite the bumps along the way, it was finished now. After today Ayesha would no longer be a problem.
That was why it wasn't an issue that Hanabi's Byakugan was active. They both trusted Miya enough with its knowledge, Ayesha would no longer be a problem and Yuuchi already knew.
As they padded down the hallway Naruto noticed that Yuuchi footfalls were as silent as their own, which was something of a rarity amongst the Sekirei. The most interesting part about that fact was that she had not been silent while walking through Epsilon Point. That meant she either made a conscious decision to seem less threatening while there, or she was making a conscious decision to keep her presence a secret until revealed here.
Making his way silently down the stairs he poked his head into the main living room. It looked as it always had before, albeit far emptier than usual. Izumo Inn was feeling less lively all the time. With Minato and his Sekirei gone for the time being and his own using Epsilon Point almost exclusively, the place was positively deserted compared to its peak activity.
Miya was sitting at the head of the table as usual watching the television. There were lines of worry visible on her forehead as she listened to a news report on how the island of Hokkaido had impossibly moved a dozen miles north overnight.
To her left sat Ayesha, as happy and carefree as ever sipping on a cup of tea she had made for herself. She seemed to be carrying on a conversation with Miya all by herself, not caring that the powerful Sekirei didn't respond in the slightest.
Naruto felt a twinge of guilt as he looked on. While he had been relaxing with his Sekirei, Miya probably had the week from hell with only Ayesha as company. Kusano probably didn't do much to ease the suffering considering how badly she had been assimilated by Ayesha.
Well he hoped to fix that starting today, that was one of the reasons he was here, "Hey Miya-chan!" Naruto said, waving at the landlady.
"Oh, Naruto-kun!" Miya said with some surprise as her gaze quickly moved to his, the TV all but forgotten. She brought a hand up to her cheek and smiled at him. Naruto could see the relief and joy in her eyes as he appeared. It made him feel doubly guilty for not visiting at least once in the past week, "I must apologize, I did not hear your arrival, I'll go make some tea."
"No, please, sit, that's fine I don't need tea right now," Naruto said as he revealed himself completely. Noting the look of disappointment in her eyes Naruto quickly added, "but I'll be glad to have some later, for now however there are more 'important' things to discuss."
"Oh, I see, then you were successful?" Miya asked with a touch of hope in her voice.
"Of course! Was there ever any doubt?" Naruto asked as he thrust his chest out with pride.
"Oh my, is Naruto-kun's head getting too big for him? I wonder how Hanabi-san would feel about your boasting," Miya said with a small laugh.
"I would pop his ego like usual," Hanabi said as she came down the stairs as well. She jabbed Naruto in the back, pushing him out of the way, "You almost didn't finish it and you had help, a lot of it," she said, reminding him of the fact that the entire sealing process had been handed to him on a silver platter and all he really had to do was replicate it.
She still didn't know what he wanted it for but Naruto rarely put that much effort into something without there being a good reason.
"Hey! That's not fair! It was hard!" Naruto protested indignantly. Even if he did have a copy to work from it didn't mean anyone could replicate a reality defying seal that easily.
Miya held a hand up to her mouth and let out a small tinkling laugh. She had missed this banter over the past week. Naruto always managed to brighten the room up with his presence; it was one of the things that had endeared him to her.
"Oh! Miya-chan there's… something else," Naruto started, looking decidedly unsure. Taking note of the change in his demeanor she became alert.
"And what might that be?" Miya asked. She hoped the seal that Naruto had constructed didn't come with at a price.
"That would be me, Miya-san," Yuuchi said as she stepped out from the staircase. She looked as calm and serene as always.
"Yuuchi-san!" Ayesha and Miya exclaimed at the same time,
"Hello Ayesha-san, Miya-san, it's been awhile," Yuuchi said as she graced both of them with a smile.
"Ya, her, she said she knew you Miya-chan, and that she's the Second Sekirei Pillar," Naruto said as he moved to the table, directly across from the landlady, "I take it from your reaction you know her, both of you do."
"Of course Naruto-kun, she is as she says, Yuuchi-san, the Second Sekirei Pillar," Miya said, confirming Yuuchi's story about her origins.
"Yuuchi-san is the wisest amongst us after the First. She was the one originally in control of Kouten after we landed," Ayesha said happily as she smiled brilliantly at the second pillar.
That put Naruto and Hanabi a little more at ease, although Hanabi was more than a little curious at the phrasing Ayesha used.
However that meant Yuuchi hadn't lied to them about anything so far. Neither Miya nor Ayesha seemed too particularly upset at her presence. If anything they both seemed over-joyed. Although while Ayesha would probably find mating with the demons of hell a pleasant new experience, Miya at least knew right from wrong and if she didn't consider Yuuchi a threat then Naruto was prepared to write Yuuchi off his list of suspicious people.
Taking a seat at the table Hanabi took her place just to his left and Yuuchi sat just beside her, on Miya's right. It left Ayesha alone on one side of the table, no one particularly wanted to sit next to the strange woman.
"How have you been Yuuchi-san? I never did see you after we landed," Ayesha asked.
"I have been as well as one can be considering the circumstances. I experienced a most unfortunate accident. My ship seemed to accelerate instead of decelerate as it approached land,"
"Oh really? That's good, I was worried I had messed the changes I made to the landing sequence! I'm not very good with technology," Ayesha said in relief, tilting her head and smiling as she remembered tinkering with the control system.
The air grew absolutely chilling as Yuuchi stared at Ayesha. There was no noticeable change to her facial expression that Naruto could tell, yet the aura she exuded had changed from serene and calm to cold and deadly.
She did not seem too particularly impressed by Ayesha's admission of sabotage.
"And why did you make those changes?" Yuuchi asked in a deceptively calm voice.
"Oh, the First asked me to. Something about you becoming too suspicious, I never really paid attention to the reason. The first asked, so I happily helped him," Ayesha said with a smile.
Yuuchi kept a steady gaze on Ayesha for a few more moments as if trying to gauge the truth behind her words. Then the chilling presence was gone. Yuuchi let out a soft sigh and shook her head sadly, "No point in blaming you for that accident then. You are who you are, the First is the one that must be held accountable."
"Oh, Yuuchi-san is so forgiving!" Ayesha said cheerfully.
"First?" Naruto asked curiously. He was assuming they were referring to the First Sekirei Pillar.
Yuuchi glanced at Miya and Ayesha for a moment. The two of them seemed to be deferring to her in this matter. Looking back at Naruto she gave a small nod, "Yes, the First Sekirei Pillar. We do not know his name, he never gave one, but he was the one in charge of overseeing the Sekirei Plan. He was the one that designed and commissioned the ships to be built and is the only one with complete intimate knowledge of both their functions and Kouten's. There is naught much else I can say about him save that the feathers under his command were designed to be far closer to the originals than any others."
Some of them WERE the originals, brought back using unorthodox methods and transformed into Sekirei.
"I seem to be missing a lot of this conversation," Hanabi said in annoyance as she tried to piece together what was being said with what she already knew.
"Sorry Hanabi, I promised to keep it a secret, it's not really my secret to tell anyways," Naruto said apologetically to his wife.
"So you did more than turn my own Sekirei against me, what else did the First order you to do?" Miya demanded as she rounded on Ayesha.
"Oh lots of things, I sabotaged your ship too Miya-san. The first didn't want it landing with the others, insurance in case it took longer than a generation to find the Ninth Sekirei Pillar." Ayesha announced happily, "The First also ordered me to make your Sekirei rebel against you, something about wanting to be able to manipulate and control your feathers when it came time to retrieve the ninth. Plus I poisoned the Sixth Pillar, the first wanted to bring me along and she was the weakest, he called her a failure? I don't know why, she seemed like a great person to me, we used to always take baths together and sing karaoke, she was a great cook as well."
The temperature of the room steadily fell as Ayesha began to list everything she had been ordered to do. It seemed that beyond Miya and Yuuchi, everyone had been affected by her in some way. Every pillar from the Second to the Eighth had something sabotaged or affected on orders from the First.
The more Naruto heard this, the more he realized Ayesha had been taken advantage of, badly. The First, whoever he was, had abused her all accepting, all-loving nature to make her commit absolutely horrifying and horrendous crimes.
She still needed to be dealt with, but maybe not permanently? Perhaps there was something else he could do instead of sealing her…
"Shut up or I will kill you," Hanabi growled, her killing intent spiked to heart stopping levels. The chilly room suddenly felt like it had just been set ablaze. The heat from Hanabi's killing intent threatened to consume everything. Even Ayesha was affected by this as she quickly clammed up and stared at Hanabi in startled surprise.
There were different types of killing intent. Miya's had been strong, powerful, but she hadn't lived through an all-consuming world war. She hadn't been trained from childhood to be a killer.
As bad as Miya's life had been, she hadn't seen a fraction of the horrors that Hanabi had. As a result her killing intent was nowhere near as potent as Hanabi's.
"Hanabi…" Naruto started to reach for his wife.
"Shut up Naruto-san, I told you if I saw her influencing you I would kill her, well she's trying right now," Hanabi hissed as she glared angrily at the woman across the table.
"Ayesha-san, I think it would be best if you simply kept quiet for the time being," Yuuchi said in a calm voice. Naruto glanced at her. He could tell that from the way she seemed to be smoothing an already smooth dress and the few droplets of sweat that were beading on her forehead that she too was being affected by the intense pressure Hanabi was exuding.
"Of course," Ayesha quickly agreed.
Hanabi settled back, letting her killing intent fade, but her gaze remained firmly fixated on Ayesha, waiting for the slightest misstep.
Taking a deep breath Miya rubbed her cheek. With a quick glance between Ayesha and Hanabi she turned to Yuuchi, "Ayesha-san said she sabotaged your ship because the first felt you were suspicious… of what exactly?"
"Of the Sekirei Plan as a whole. The Uzumaki had access to the true historical records, not the false ones published for all to see. To most, the Sekirei Plan seemed like the perfect solution but there were small holes in it that were only visible if you knew the true history. Those holes became larger and more apparent after we landed," Yuuchi explained. "This Sekirei Plan is a farce, we were lied to from the start. I do not know what the First planned but it has nothing to do with the restoration of our world. I placed myself in stasis in hopes of warning you about the plan so that your feathers were not dragged into a pointless war like all the others." Yuuchi sighed and glanced down at the table, her eyes filled with regret, "It seems that I was too late however."
Miya closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. She had suspicions of this herself, after hearing from Naruto about his past, "So we were not sent here to find the Ninth Sekirei Pillar. There truly is no way to bring back Gaia," Miya said softly.
"That is difficult to answer," Yuuchi said frowning, "We were never meant to find the ninth, the First already knew who he was and how to retrieve him. I don't think he even particularly cared about the Ninth Pillar in particular, just what's inside him. The Pillars are simply individuals that are capable of containing, or controlling, the tailed beasts of old. Eight had been accounted for, the ninth, Kurama, was not. He was lost when Uzumaki Naruto disappeared into the void after killing one Uchiha Madara. Kurama was never removed from its host like the others were. It still resides within the Ninth Pillar, Uzumaki Naruto," Yuuchi turned to regard Naruto. "The First had access to the true history like the Uzumaki did, he would have known all of this, and yet he did not reveal any of it. He came here to find you and remove Kurama from within you. I have yet to determine why 'we' were brought here with him." Yuuchi looked back at Miya, "As for Gaia, she never died, she's here on Earth with us. I met her a thousand years ago. That is another question for which I have no answers."
Ayesha brightened up at this. She began to talk animatedly, forgetting Hanabi's earlier threat, "If Gaia is here then she abandoned our world. If we take the ninth Jinki from Naruto-kun we can create a new Gaia for our world!" Ayesha said happily.
"That's not going to happen," Naruto stated firmly, his voice broking no argument.
"I told you Ayesha-san, I won't let you touch Naruto-kun," Miya said ominously as a dark aura began to erupt around her. She had been plagued with doubts about the Sekirei Plan. Now that she knew Yuuchi held the same doubts, she was more than willing to throw her part in the plan out the window. She'd fight against it with everything she had.
"You'd be hard pressed to accomplish such a task Ayesha-san, you are alone, and even if you got support from elsewhere I assure you that none save the First could match Naruto-san. His current power is more than equal to our own, but the techniques he possesses allow him to reach levels even we could never dream of," The old history books had spoken of several such techniques. Naruto was a shinobi of old, he could tap into his celestial gates, or call upon the natural energies of the world. Even Kurama could be called upon to aid him.
With all three powers under his control there was no force they could muster that would be able to touch him.
Ayesha turned to Naruto and gave him her most brilliant smile, "Well I'm sure Naruto-kun would love to-KYAHHH!"
Ayesha screamed in agony as her body began to collapse in upon itself. Hanabi was on her feet, her hand stretched out towards the blonde Pillar, slowly closing into a fist. There was a dark scowl on her face as she brought her Sekirei power to bear upon Ayesha.
She could have used her bloodline abilities but there was something more satisfying about crushing your opponent, especially someone like this.
As Hanabi's hand began to close the snapping and breaking of bones echoed throughout the house, joining the cacophony of screams that were being ripped from Ayesha's throat. Flesh tore, blood splashed, and limbs were rent asunder as Ayesha's body was mangled beyond recognition.
And still she screamed.
"I thought you were opposed to violence at Izumo Inn, Miya-chan," Naruto commented idly as he watched his wife completely obliterate Ayesha. If Miya was correct she'd be regenerating soon, he was interested in it from a scholarly point of view. He knew of many different forms of immortality and how to deal with most of them. Seeing Ayesha's first hand would allow him to plan for similar occurrences in the future should they arise, plans that didn't involve reality defying seals.
"Whatever do you mean Naruto-kun? I don't see any violence," Miya said demurely as she looked everywhere but at Ayesha. There was a self-satisfied smile on her face as she said that. The noises coming from her left was nothing but music to her ears, she wasn't in any hurry to end it.
Yuuchi was completely ignoring Ayesha as she eyed Hanabi curiously, "Interesting, she has a Sekirei core inside her," she said and glanced over at Naruto, "You truly are a genius when it comes to Fuinjutsu. To think you were able to transfer a core into her with little to no prior knowledge of what it actually was."
"Oh, it was nothing, I just took a basic chakra transfer jutsu, modified it on the fly and adjusted the chakra as it came across the seal so that it would be compatible with Hanabi. Most of the sealing array was completely destroyed, it wasn't meant to transfer like that, but I was only interested in the core to heal Hanabi anyways," Naruto said nonchalantly, waving off the compliment like it wasn't a big deal.
Yuuchi eyed him with a new sense of respect, "Impressive adaptability," she murmured.
"What is she doing?" Hanabi demanded as Ayesha's body began to glow.
"Oh, I wasn't allowed to tell you before but I don't think Miya-chan would mind now. Ayesha is immortal. It doesn't matter what you do to her body, she'll just regenerate back to full health," Naruto said as he watched Ayesha's body reform, perfectly healthy and pristine. Even her clothes had been restored to normal.
"Immortality..." Hanabi spat that word out like it was a curse. Hanabi's eyes glowed dangerously as she tilted her head, "Immortality… and she tried to subvert MY Naruto-kun…" Hanabi's face grew dangerous, "Let's see if there's a limit to the number of times she can regenerate!"
A soundless quake rocked the house as Ayesha imploded a second time. Again she regenerated back to full and again Hanabi crushed her body into a bloody pile of mangled flesh. Over and over she obliterated Ayesha until everyone in the room lost count how many times Ayesha had been killed, or how long it had been since Hanabi had first begun.
None of them seemed to be able to bring themselves to particularly care overly much about Ayesha's current predicament. While she was only partly to blame, one must take responsibility for their actions, and that was something Ayesha had been able to avoid up until this moment.
Hanabi wasn't letting her avoid it any longer.
"I think right about now Ayesha is probably regretting possessing that particular form of immortality," Naruto said as he listened to Ayesha's voice become more panicked and shrill.
Starting as if she just noticed Ayesha's situation for the first time Miya put a hand on her cheek and sighed, "Oh my, I do believe that's the sound of her mind breaking," Miya said as Ayesha's voiced suddenly start to warble as if the blonde haired woman didn't know whether or not to laugh or cry.
"There's a reason the wise never desire immortality. You always have to pay a price eventually. The wise know that the price one must pay is never worth it," Yuuchi said as she watched Ayesha get mangled and restored with an almost clinical detachment. "However do you not think this is enough Hanabi-san? Ayesha-san is not evil, just misguided. She's-oh dear." Yuuchi stopped as she looked past Hanabi towards the staircase.
"O-Onee-chan…" A horrified voice gasped out from behind them.
As one the rest of them turned to see the last person they wanted to see right then. Little Kusano was standing there, at the bottom of the steps, in a simple dress holding a small stuffed fox in her arms. Her eyes however, were glued to Ayesha, glued to the destruction Hanabi's power wrought on her body. Kusano's eyes were filled with unspeakable horror, pain and disbelief as she watched Ayesha's body be reduced to a mangle pile of blood, flesh and bone. Her tiny body quaked and shivered, flinching with each agonizing scream that was ripped from Ayesha's ruined throat.
"Oh shit…" Naruto cursed as he quickly scrambled to his feet. This was bad, this was unimaginably bad.
"Kusano…" Hanabi whispered in horrified disbelief, her power faded away dropping a mangled Ayesha to the floor. No, no this was not what she wanted. She never wanted someone as young and innocent as Kusano to bear witness to this level of horror.
Miya was on her feet in an instant and made her way for her youngest feather, her eyes filled with guilt and concern.
Kusano however never gave them the time to reach her, "ONEE-CHAN!" Kusano screamed in terror and panic as she rushed to Ayesha's side. Tears streamed down her face as sorrow wracked her tiny frame.
The plants around the room exploded into life. One moment they were small simple plants, the next they had transformed into massive vines, hurtling towards them through the air. They all had to dodge out of the way as dozens of vines reached out for them.
In Kusano's stricken state there was no telling if she intended to merely hold them, or crush them.
Ayesha had already regenerated by the time Kusano reached her side. She tackled Ayesha and hugged her tightly, "Onee-chan!" Kusano cried out as she wept into Ayesha's bosom.
"Why…" Ayesha cried out in a broken voice, "Why did they hurt me… I only wanted to help… I have only ever wanted to make people happy. I don't understand…" Tears streamed from her eyes as she laid there motionless, her body still too sensitive from the repeated brutal deaths to move.
Kusano hugged Ayesha tightly, "Onee-chan, Kuu-chan is here, Kuu-chan will never hurt you."
Naruto ducked and weaved around the vines as he tried to get close to Ayesha and Kusano. Whenever a particularly large vine got close to him he blasted it to pieces with a burst of wind. However try as he might he couldn't get near either of them. It seemed the closer he got the faster and more erratic the vines became. Despite being a mere six feet away, he couldn't seem to get any closer. It was like for every step forward he took he was forced to take two back to avoid being impaled or ensnared.
Ayesha held Kusano close with one arm, "Why does this always happen to me? Why does everyone hurt me? I only wish to help, please I don't understand…" Ayesha raised her hand to the ceiling as if reaching out for someone, anyone. Powerful, painful sobs wracked her body, "Please… someone, anyone… accept me."
"I accept you onee-chan! I will stay with onee-chan! I won't let ANYONE HURT ONEE-CHAN!" Kusano screamed.
Dodging the erratic movements of the vines suddenly became the least of their worries. Kusano's power exploded from her and they no longer had to just worry about the plants inside the room getting violent. Kusano's grief had greatly magnified her power. The sound of cracking and splintering wood was all the time they had to prepare before massive tree trunks ripped through the floor of the inn and smashed their way through the ceiling.
"We need to stop her!" Hanabi shouted as she made for Kusano. She was going to kill her, there was no other way. In her grief, her power was completely out of control, she was a danger to them and everyone around them.
"Wait Hanabi!" Naruto shouted as he tried to stop her. Kusano didn't need to be killed, only knocked unconscious. Then she could be sealed up until he found a way to fix her. He could still save her. The sealing array inside them allowed for the manipulation of memories and emotions. If he erased everything associated with Ayesha he could save her.
Even if it did mean invalidating the past year of her life, destroying the bond she had with Minato and all the time she had spent with them here at Izumo Inn.
He redoubled his efforts to reach her but the amount plant life was getting ridiculous. Every time he destroyed a vine or a branch of a tree, ten more replaced it. He couldn't teleport to her; there was too much movement, too much risk of teleporting into one of the vines.
Then things began to get worse. All around Izumo Inn the plants, trees, and everything else erupted uncontrollably. Windows were smashed as vines tore through them; large branches punched holes in the walls. Massive trees erupted from beneath Izumo Inn and ripped their way through the two story building.
There was a massive groan as the earth heaved and Izumo Inn was literally torn in half. The sound was deafening as beams exploded, shingles shattered, walls collapsed and floors buckled.
Kusano's uncontrollable power was tearing Izumo Inn apart and they couldn't get to her to make her stop. Every attempt was blocked by walls of overgrowth. Naruto couldn't risk using his more destructive spells; he didn't want to hurt anyone.
"KAITEN!" He heard his wife shout out. A sphere of blue energy erupted in front of him, tearing the plant life apart. It offered him a small measure of reprieve and allowed him to jump back.
And just as he regained his bearing a motorcycle smashed its way through the front door.
"Sanada Nishi here to punish the Ashikabi Slayer that hurt my little Nio!" the arrogant Ashikabi shouted as he burst into Izumo Inn.
"I don't have time to deal with this shit!" Naruto shouted and turned his anger at the oncoming motorcycle. Catching it in mid-air he threw it back out the front door, carrying Sanada along for the ride.
Naruto was pissed now, who the hell rammed their motorcycle through the front door of a house while it's being torn to shreds?
"Coward! Get him my pretties!" Sanada cried out.
"Ya! Get the big bad man!" Nio cried out from the sidelines.
Three Sekirei burst through the front entrance, heading straight for Naruto. With a scowl on his face Naruto charged towards them.
He didn't have time to deal with his, Kusano was going berserk, Ayesha was recovering, and Izumo Inn was being torn asunder.
With those three problems he had no desire to deal with more. He was going to put them down, hard.
Instantly a wind enhanced Rasengan's formed in his hand. "Futon: Rasengan!" Naruto roared as he blurred forward. With a speed beyond anything the Sekirei were capable of dealing with Naruto slammed the Rasengan into Kujika's stomach.
There was a grinding squelching sound as the Rasengan drilled its way into her flesh. Screams of pain were torn from her throat as her body was ripped apart. A small explosion resounded as the Rasengan detonated, hurling the critically injured Sekirei back out the door she had come through.
"Kujika!" The Shijime cried out in horror as she saw her sister get tossed away like a broken ragdoll.
"How dare you do that to Kujika!" Kuzuri cried out as she threw a round-house kick.
Naruto ducked under the attack the attack. Shifting to the side to avoid Shijime's attack he wrapped his arm around Kuzuri's leg and smashed the knee cap. A kunai appeared in his hand, wind chakra raced down the blade, enhancing the length and sharpness. He lashed out with the blade and sheared through Kuzuri's thigh.
Kuzuri tumbled to the ground with a cry of pain. She held her ruined stump as blood gushed from the wound. The floor of the inn cratered as Naruto stomped on Kuzuri's neck. A sickening crack signaled the snapping of bone.
"You meanie!" Shijime cried out in horror as she lashed out at Naruto in anger.
"No more!" Naruto snarled angrily as he slammed a chakra enhanced fist into Shijime's face. Cartilage crunched as her nose was smashed in. Naruto's follow-through carried Shijime into the wall, punching her head through it.
He was not happy.
This had gone on long enough, turning to head back towards Kusano he cursed, "Shit!" A massive vine slammed him back into Shijime and through the wall. The front entrance of Izumo Inn collapsed as the wall disintegrated.
Tumbling across the grass he quickly grabbed hold of his bearings and righted himself. Standing a sharp gasp escaped his lips as he saw for the first time what Kusano's rampage had done to Izumo Inn.
Or rather he saw what was left of it.
It made the overgrowth from the arboretum where he had first tried to rescue Kusano look like a wide open field. He could barely make out the inn from the overgrowth, but what little he could see caused the pit of his stomach to fall.
Izumo Inn was no more.
The place was completely devastated. There was nothing that could be salvaged. Even if all the greenery was removed there was not a single wall, floor, ceiling, window or door that had escaped unscathed.
At least the plants had stopped growing. Whether that meant Kusano had finally calmed down or something worse he didn't know.
"You bastard! You killed Kuzuri and Kujika!" Sanada roared as he threw a powerful haymaker at Naruto's temple.
Bone snapped.
Sanada cried out in pain and held his broken knuckles. Naruto slowly turned his head to regard Sanada. Sanada stepped back hesitantly at what he saw lurking within the depths of those eyes. Even under the control of Nio he still had the sensibility to realize when he was matched up against something he could not deal with, something he couldn't even comprehend.
"If you wanted to challenge me, I would have accepted, but not today, not like this. You made a mistake coming here Sanada," Naruto said in a chilling voice. He turned to face the last powerful Ashikabi fully, "Now I'm trying to decide how to deal with you, and I don't think you'll enjoy any of the options."
"You bastard ripped Nio away from her Ashikabi!" Sanada shouted angrily, jabbing his good hand at Naruto.
"Nio? That Sekirei had already been beaten by one of my own," Naruto's voice was filled with nothing but contempt, "According to the rules of this Sekirei Plan she should no longer be active, let alone running around causing trouble."
"Nio won't be a problem any longer," A new voice spoke up.
The two of them turned to the speaker and found Yuuchi standing over Nio's prone form with a ball of darkness hovering above her hand.
"What have you done to Nio!" Sanada demanded.
"You no longer have any business here, Ashikabi-san," Yuuchi said to Sanada as she slowly made her way past him. Looking at Naruto she gave him a sad smile, "You were right about the chakra transfer technique," she said to Naruto.
"That's Nio's Tama isn't it?" Naruto asked as he looked at the inky darkness hovering in Yuuchi's hand.
"Yes, I could sense the foulness the moment she arrived. She was a failed Sekirei based off Ayesha-san, malformed from birth. Normally those like her are disposed of as they are, in time, fatal for whomever they bond with," Yuuchi said as she stopped at Naruto's side. Glancing down at the Tama in her hand she flared her chakra.
A Fuinjutsu seal appeared above her hand, under the ball of darkness. The seal curved up and around, encasing the corrupted Tama. With another surge of chakra the seal activated and arcs of light slammed into the darkness. It writhed and surged as it struggled against the attack but resistance didn't last long. There was a soundless detonation as the Tama collapsed in upon itself and disappeared.
"The art of sealing has greatly advanced since your time Naruto-san," Yuuchi said, as if the explanation was enough to explain how she had managed to create a seal without any material.
Naruto would have been far more impressed if the situation had been anything but what it currently was. Instead he merely took a passing note of Yuuchi's impressive feat before leveling his gaze upon Sanada once more, "I suggest you leave, now. MBI will be along to pick up your fallen Sekirei."
"You don't-."
"LEAVE!" Naruto roared, almost suffocating Sanada with his killing intent. If that man didn't leave within the next five seconds Naruto would end up doing something he'd regret later.
Thankfully he didn't have to as whatever it was Sanada saw in his eyes scared him witless. Stumbling backwards Sanada turned and raced for his bike. Setting it up right he took one last glance at his Sekirei, minus Nio, and quickly drove off, trying to get as far away from Naruto as he could.
"I see you are as efficient, at least when serious, as the history books have written you to be," Yuuchi said coolly.
"You see oddly calm about this whole ordeal," Naruto snapped back, feeling more than a little annoyed that Yuuchi didn't seem to care about what had just happened.
"And should I be excited? I have just woken up, beyond Miya-san and Ayesha-san, nothing here is familiar to me, I have no special attachment to anything. Even yourself and Hanabi-san were nothing more than names on a page until a week ago," Yuuchi pointed out calmly as she turned to regard the wrecked Inn.
Naruto ground his teeth but had to admit she had a point. He knew his own sentimental attachment to Kusano, Izumo Inn and Miya was what caused this wellspring of emotions to burst out from him. He could not fault Yuuchi for not getting upset about something she felt nothing for.
However her words reminded him that they were down several people, "Hanabi! Miya! Are you alright?" Naruto called out as he hurried back towards the ruined building.
"KAITEN!" There was a loud shout and the front entrance was blown away.
As the wall of spinning chakra died down Naruto could make out four people. Miya and Hanabi were standing under their own power. Ayesha was lying on the floor and Kusano was in Miya's arms.
Naruto breathed a sigh of relief. Aside from being dirty and a little scuffed up neither Miya nor Hanabi seemed to have sustained any real injury.
"I'm glad you're alright," Naruto said with a relieved smile on his face.
Hanabi bent down, grabbed Ayesha by the back of her dress and dragged her outside, "We need some way to deal with her permanently," Hanabi said as she dropped Ayesha at Naruto's feet.
Naruto nodded and laid a hand gently on his wife's shoulder, "I have one, don't worry, I'll handle it from here," he said. Hanabi smiled gratefully and walked away.
Naruto let her go. She would need some time to herself. He could see the guilt and sorrow in her eyes. It had been her decision to torture Ayesha that had ultimately led to Kusano's mental breakdown and the destruction of Izumo Inn. That was going to be a heavy burden to bear for some time.
Naruto glanced over at Miya, "How's Kusano—" His breath hitched in his throat as he noticed Kusano's blood stained dress.
Miya sighed and shook her head sadly, "I had no choice, I could feel her psychic power reaching out to Minato-san and the others. If I hadn't stopped her then… Ayesha-san's influence would have spread," Miya said softly as she laid Kusano down gently on the grass. She smoothed Kusano's hair as best she could and held her cheek softly.
She had been forced to end her youngest Sekirei. Ayesha had forced her once again to raise her sword against one of her own. Tears began to drip down her cheeks as she wept over the loss of her youngest. Memories old and new bombarded her, the faces of all those she cared about but had been forced to end because of Ayesha.
Naruto trembled as he watched Miya weep for the loss of her youngest. His own memories flashed across his eyes remembering all the laughter and happiness that Kusano had brought to those at Izumo Inn.
Of all the sacrifices he had made to rescue her and save her from a fate worse than death, only to subject her to another.
He clenched his fists and squeezed his eyes shut. This was not what was supposed to happen, how could things have ended up like this? Kusano gone, Izumo Inn destroyed, Miya weeping.
This was all wrong.
With the sound of shattering glass something broke within his mind.
Raising his face to the sky Naruto cried out in a thunderous voice filled with rage and sorrow. His chakra spiked and shot into the sky, carried on the winds of grief and fueled by anger.
The sky pealed with thunder and storm clouds gathered. Within moments the once cloudless sunny day turned dark and grey. As if called forth by Naruto's sorrow the sky began to weep. Large droplets of water fell from the sky, drowning the city in sadness.
Bowing his head Naruto glared at the ground angrily. His mind raced over the past hour. There were so many things he could have done to prevent this from happening. He could have put a barrier around the room, silencing seals, anything to prevent Kusano from hearing. He could have left clones to make sure Kusano didn't interrupt them. He could have stopped Hanabi when her actions had become excessive. He could have manipulated Kusano's memories and emotions and erased Ayesha from them. He could have…
His train of thought was interrupted as a gentle touch brushed his arm. He looked at the hand, his gazing trailing up the arm until he reached Yuuchi's face. There was sympathy in her eyes.
"Do not blame yourself. Hindsight is always twenty/twenty. You are only mortal, we are all only mortal," Yuuchi said softly as she tried to comfort Naruto.
"If making mistakes like this is what it means to be mortal, then that's something I can't afford to be anymore," Naruto spat out as he stared impotently at Kusano's prone form. There was so many things he could have done to prevent this situation from happening. It infuriated him that he had done nothing when there had been so many options available.
"To throw away your mortality is to throw away everything that makes being mortal special. Life is precious because it is fleeting, because it is short. It is exactly because situations like this can arise that makes each moment we live worth living," Yuuchi said sagely.
"I'm not going to just sit by and watch the people I care about die just because it makes life worth living!" Naruto snapped at her.
Yuuchi kept her composure in the face of Naruto's anger, "Nor should you. But neither should you lose yourself because life decides to be cruel. The Sekirei Plan is responsible for this, not you. The First is responsible for this, not you. It needs to be stopped, ended before anyone else is forced to suffer such a tragedy. I for one will do what I can to save what is left. I will end this Sekirei Plan," Yuuchi said with steel in her voice. She stood tall, proud, and indomitable. For a singular moment she seemed to tower above him like a giant. The rain itself seemed to avoid her as if afraid to touch her.
Naruto stared at her for a long while, touched by her declaration. What she said made sense for the most part, he could see that. Even Ayesha couldn't be entirely blamed for this. No, the blame needed to be attributed to the source, "Yes, no more playing around. You are right, thank you Yuuchi. I had planned on dealing with Minaka sooner or later; it's going to be sooner now."
But she was wrong on one aspect. A mortal body he could deal with. A mortal lifespan, that was acceptable as well. Mortal limits to his power however? That was no longer an option. It was time to accelerate his Fuinjutsu and Ninjutsu training.
He wasn't going to be satisfied until the very God's themselves trembled at the mention of his name.
In the meantime he would meet with Councillor Naoki. He would use him as much as he was used. He was going to bring Minaka down, hard.
And if Naoki was not up to snuff, he would find someone that was. If there was no one, well, the people of Japan better pray that someone worthwhile steps forward after he ripped Minaka off his throne because he wasn't going to wait any longer.
Enough people have suffered because of that madman sitting on the throne.
He never wanted to see that look of guilt and sorrow in Hanabi's eyes again. He never wanted to hear Miya weep again. He never wanted to look down upon the lifeless body of someone precious ever again.
It was time to end the Sekirei Plan.
Author's Note: BOOM! What a chapter eh?
I'm probably going to get a lot of flak for this chapter.
I never actually intended to deactivate Kusano going into this chapter, it just sort of wrote itself. I really debated between leaving it in and re-writing it. Ultimately I decided to leave it in because even if she had lived, what Naruto would have to do to her to save her would, in a sense, be almost as bad as simply deactivating her. He would have to use the sealing array inside her mind to erase her memories, replace them with false ones and then alter her feelings. He would basically be invalidating a portion of her life, wiping it out of existence. To me, at least, the mind is sacred. Anything that tampers with it is beyond evil (and no, Ayesha doesn't tamper with one's memories). We are who and what we are due to the experiences that we have lived. To alter that, to remove pieces of it or create false ones… you're essentially destroying the identity we have created for ourselves and there's no greater crime than that. That's ultimately why I decided to go with this route. Plus I believe it'll probably have more impact and emotion than the other for the readers and serves as a way to thrust all of us into the next part of the story.
One thing that always irked me in the manga is how callous Miya seemed to be. She just sits there on the sideline and watches as all her feathers, the Sekirei under her watch, butcher each other to the tune of a madman. She has stated her hatred of Minaka, yet does nothing, in fact she goes along with the entire farce and helps Minaka by bringing Kouten down to Shinto Teito. The only time she has ever felt any sort of 'sorrow' was when Takehito died. That just feels off to me personally. I think Miya feels quite a bit for her Sekirei, it's just never shown in the manga because Sakurako is trying to portray Miya as a strong woman. Actually I think much of the characterization is off in that manga. The Sekirei must all be seriously emotionally stunted if they can butcher each other with such ease and feel nothing. Even Musubi, possibly the most emotional Sekirei of them all, only feels a little regret when she deactivates someone. It's like they're not even capable of negative emotions. How can they be capable of positive emotions if they have no negative ones to base them off?
Anyways it's time to start the final arc of my story! The Minaka Arc!
Review and let me know what you think! Just no lynchings please, keep the rope at home. I'd like to be able to live long enough to finish my story.